Scars
by Rose Duchess
Summary: When watching the kids, Shikaku tells the story of how he got his scars while protecting someone important to him.


**This is just a one-shot of Shikaku and Yoshino this time because I believe they deserve more love lately. This is how I think Shikaku got his scars on his face.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Mr. Masashi Kishimoto does.**

Now it is known that the Nara men seem to be lazy to the core, but very intelligent nonetheless. They also seem to marry demanding and strict women. Why they marry women like that is a mystery to most and the Nara men are too cryptic to explain themselves.

But on this day, we find two men outside in the Nara compound with their kids. One man had his hair in a spiky ponytail and the little boy who lay on the grass was his son who looked a lot like him. Sitting with him watching their kids from the porch, was the other man with long blonde hair in a ponytail as well. He was watching his little girl with short blonde hair weave flower crowns. The little girl had a curious look on her face as she stared at the dark-haired man. Then she voiced her question that she wanted to ask as she placed a flower crown on the boy's head, much to his annoyance.

"Shikaku-Ji-san, why do you have those scars on your face?" she asked.

"Ino, you know that it is not polite to ask something like that," the blonde-haired man scolded.

But Shikaku replied, "It's fine Inoichi, she's just curious that's all."

He looked over at his son and asked, "Are you curious too, Shikamaru?"

The little boy called Shikamaru opened one eye and answered, "I'm here anyway so I have to listen don't I?"

Shikaku chuckled to himself; he knows that was his son's way of saying he's curious but he won't admit it.

Then he cleared his throat and then he started with, "Well, it was when Inoichi, Chouza and I had been newly promoted to Jounin; we had been assigned on a mission to retrieve important documents that were stolen, back from Kirigakure…"

Seven years previously…

Three 18 year old, newly promoted Jounin and one 16 year old Chūnin were jumping from tree to tree, a few days away from Konoha. They were on a B rank mission to retrieve secret documents back for the Hokage.

"Shikaku, this seems a bit too easy don't you think?" Inoichi asked.

A young Shikaku turned to his teammate and nodded his head in agreement.

"Yes, it does seem strange that they hadn't noticed we took the documents back," Shikaku murmured.

Chouza asked, "Do you think they purposely let us take the documents as a trap?"

Shikaku contemplated the possibilities of the mission turning into an A rank mission if it was a trap.

Then the young girl with long black hair tied in a ponytail, suggested, "Then why don't we stop for a second and have Inoichi-san sense any Kiri shinobi in front or behind us?"

Shikaku glanced to his right to look at the girl as he replied, "That's actually not a bad idea, Yoshino. Okay, let's stop for a second."

They stopped on some branches and then Shikaku instructed, "Inoichi, use your sensory abilities to determine any enemy shinobi following us or in front of us."

Inoichi nodded, closed his eyes and concentrated on the surrounding area. At first, he didn't sense anything out of the ordinary until he sensed several shinobi surrounding them.

"It's an ambush!" Inoichi shouted.

Then all four of them jumped down to the ground, deflecting kunai that were flung at them. Then they had engaged them in combat, each going up against at least four at once. The odds were against them and they couldn't beat them this way even when they collaborated. There was one Kiri shinobi who tried to sneak up on Shikaku but before he could strike, Yoshino came in and kicked the shinobi away from him. Shikaku turned to look at her briefly and smirked at her before turning back to the other shinobi he was fighting.

He said to her, "You know, it's a man's job to protect the woman right? Not the other way around."

Yoshino scoffed as she stood behind him, her back to his and then she retorted, "You're just upset that I saved you and your ego got deflated."

Shikaku blocked a kunai that the shinobi in front of him used against him and then he replied with a smirk, "Not at all, I was sure that you'd recognize an indirect compliment when you hear one, Yoshino."

"Hey you two stop flirting and focus here!" Inoichi shouted irritably.

Shikaku scowled a bit with a small blush but continued to fight.

There were too many to fight with hand-to-hand combat so Shikaku shouted out, "Inoichi, Chouza, let's use our usual formation!"

They nodded and came together with Chouza shouting, "Baika no Jutsu!"

Chouza grew to be taller than the trees surrounding them as he used his Bo staff to stir up the wind, making the Kiri shinobi fly up in the air; Yoshino made sure to get out of their range. With the shadow that Chouza made, Shikaku caught them all with his shadow and then Inoichi finished them off by making them attack each other until all of them were killed.

Just when they seemed to relax a bit, Inoichi then said, "Wait, I sensed thirteen shinobi when they came in; there are only twelve here."

Then they became more cautious if the last one was waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Then a flurry of kunai came flying at them from all directions causing them to keep deflecting all of them. When the barrage stopped, they all held their breath to listen for the slightest sound to try to find the last shinobi. That was when Shikaku saw it; a glint of light reflecting off a weapon in the distance. He saw that the shinobi went in fast with two short blades towards Yoshino with her back turned. He didn't think; he acted quickly.

"Yoshino, look out!" Shikaku shouted.

He ran to get to Yoshino just as the Kiri shinobi had slashed his blades to attack. His target had been hit; only it wasn't Yoshino who got hit, Shikaku had blocked the Kiri shinobi's attack, protecting Yoshino and she was shocked.

He got slashed with two long cuts on his face but he didn't waver from the pain and then he shouted, "Kage–Kubishibari no Jutsu!"

His shadow was wrapped around the shinobi, reaching up to his neck and held it until the shinobi dropped dead from suffocation. Breathing heavily, he collapsed onto his knees and held his hand to his face.

"Shikaku, are you okay?" Inoichi asked as he and Chouza came closer to him.

Yoshino had already had his head in her lap, working on his cuts to stop the bleeding

"Yeah I'm fine, it's just a scratch," Shikaku answered.

"Idiot, you're lucky it wasn't your eyes that got cut…" Yoshino scolded but her eyes were close to tears.

And then Inoichi said, "Well, Chouza and I will look out for any more Kiri shinobi, Yoshino you watch Shikaku."

Inoichi and Chouza stepped away from them to check for enemies but also to leave them alone. Yoshino was cleaning Shikaku's wounds while he hissed a bit when the alcohol went over the cuts. Then when they were cleaned, Yoshino got the bandages out to put them on the cuts.

Then Yoshino asked quietly, "Why did you get in the way of his attack?"

He stared up into her worried eyes and he was mesmerized for a little bit.

But then he averted his eyes away from her and answered, "Well… He was about to hurt you and I didn't want that to… happen."

Shikaku had a small blush that formed on his cheeks as he kept his eyes from looking at her directly.

Then he added, "And it's not because I was being chivalrous or because the man protects the woman. I did it because…"

He stopped for a moment as he was struggling to get his next words out, Yoshino stared down at him with curiosity and then when he made eye contact with her, he finally said, "I really like you, Yoshino."

Yoshino was surprised that the lazy but intelligent Shikaku Nara would confess something like that; she has never even seen him so nervous like he is right now. Then gradually she had a small smile on her face as she watched his blushing face. She put the last bit of bandages on his face and then leaned down to press her forehead to his. She felt him stiffen a little but they both looked deep into each other's eyes.

She whispered, "I really like you too, Shikaku."

Then she softly pressed her lips to his own, shocking him, but then he slowly eased into the kiss, savoring her taste. Then she nibbled his lips as she caressed his face, careful of the newly acquired cuts on his face. He brought his hand up to hold her head in place as he licked her lips sensually, earning him access into her mouth. Soon though, they broke apart for air and Shikaku gave a small smile up at her as she smiled down at him. He caressed her cheek, wiping a stray tear that had fallen.

"You know, I really like your smile, it makes you even more beautiful," Shikaku whispered to her. Then her smile got brighter with a blush on her cheeks.

Then he asked, "Will you go out with me when we finish this mission?"

Yoshino kissed his forehead and answered, "I'd love to."

Then they shared another kiss while unknown to them, Inoichi and Chouza were watching with smiles on their faces.

"About time, don't you think, Chouza?" Inoichi asked amusedly, while Chouza simply nodded his head as an answer.

Back into the present…

"So then, after the mission, I was able to protect someone dear to me and I've had these scars ever since to remind me of it," Shikaku concluded his story with a small smile.

"Aw, that's so sweet, Shikaku-Ji-san. So you protected Yoshino-Ba-san from getting hurt," Ino exclaimed happily.

Shikamaru simply sighed and said, "How troublesome, getting hurt over some girl even when she could handle herself."

Shikaku only chuckled at his son and said, "You say that now son, but you'll understand when you find someone special to you, just as your mother is to me."

Shikamaru looked up at him with a raised eyebrow until Ino pulled on his hand.

"Come on, Shika! Let's play hide and seek." Ino proclaimed.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes but he complied anyway, following Ino towards a tree to start from. When the two children went to play, Yoshino came out to watch her son play with Ino.

"I bet when they are older, they'll be dating each other," Yoshino declared.

Shikaku let out a small chuckle and replied while grabbing her hand, "I think you might be right about that, Yoshino."

Shikaku and Yoshino watched as Ino found Shikamaru behind a tree and then he had to count. They also didn't miss the little smile on their son's face as he counted.

**I hope you enjoyed this little one-shot. I even added a bit ofone of my favorite couples, ShikaIno in it. Please feel free to leave a review. Thanks for reading.**


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